McNamara Robert S

Stuck in Elevator No. 13 With 3 .13.2

edevil McNamara Fareivell

By John Maffre

Washington Post Staff Writer

The Pentagon’s grey walls
nearly blushed pink yester-
day as Defense Secretary
Robert S. McNamara retired
after seven years, bedecked
with honors and bedeviled
by snafus.

For 12 minutes McNamara
and his boss, President
Johnson, were trapped in a
balky elevator — No. 13 — on
their way to a lovingly
planned ceremony for the
superefficient Secretary.

When they finally got
there, the wet and cold

troops and dignitaries heard
barely a word that was said
because of jet noise from
Washington National Air-
port and the breakdown of
the Army’s public address
system.

Besides, the rain was so
bad the Air Force and Navy
had to scrub a flypast of 20
hotshot planes, including
the F-lll fighter-bomber
that has so far been flown
in combat only against Sen.
John L. McClellan (D-Ark.)
of the Senate Permanent
Investigations Subcommit-
tee.

But there was no mistak-

ing the warmth of the high-
est-level sendoff, a tribute
that was matched at the
rank-and-file level- by hun-
dreds of Pentagon staffers
as McNamara returned to
his office — by the staircase
— after the 20-minute cere-
mony.

It was the second farewell
ceremony for McNamara in
two days. Yesterday on the
Pentagon’s grounds he was
presented the Distinguished
Service Medal, highest
award for a civilian, for his
2585 days as defense chief.

The citation read by
Deputy Secretary of Defense

Paul R. Nitze said his serv-
ice ranks his name with
that of two “great predeces-
sors in this century, Henry
L. Stimson and George C.
Marshall.”

A day earlier at the White
House the normally articu-
late Secretary was so choked
with emotion that he could
hardly respond when the
President presented him the j
Medal of Freedom.

McNamara’s depart ure
tended to overshadow those
of two other cabinet officers
yesterday: Commerce Secre-
tary Alexander B. Trow- ,
See McNamara, as, coi. 1

talkie, maintained contact
with persons outside. There
was also a telephone in the
elevator in case of need.

“This is what’s wrong with
there being 29 days in Feb-~-
ruary,” McNamara quipped
to the President, who
cracked back:

“I never knew it took so
long to get to the -top of the
Pentagon.”

A trapdoor in the elevator
ceiling was opened for ven-
tilation. Finally someone
pried open the elevator
doors, and the party clamb-
ered out and walked down-
stairs.

The President led the
group onto the Pentagon

bridge, troubled by poor
health, and Health, Educa-
tion and Welfare Secretary
John W, Gardner, reported-
ly troubled with cutbacks in
funds for the Administra-
tion’s domestic programs.

McNamara’s difficulties
yesterday began almost ex-
actly at noon in the Penta-
gon’s garage, where he
greeted the President and
began escorting him to the
river entrance one floor
above for the ceremony.
Three-quarters, of an hour
earlier, lowering skies had
forced a cancellation of the
flypast and a steady rain
had begun.

The President, McNamara
and 11 other persons board-
ed the 15-person elevator for
the one-floor ride. It was 12
minutes and three floors
later before they got off.

For some reason the ele-
vator, operated by Army
Master Sg-t. Clifford Potter,
37, of Syracuse, N.Y., got
stuck between the first and
second floors. He struggled
with the mechanism, and the
elevator overshot twice, be-
fore jolting to a stop two
feet below the fourth floor.

Meanwhile an Air Force
colonel sprinted up and
down a nearby stairway, oe-
casionally calling out:
“They’re stuck!”

•On the first floor the
Chairman of the Joint
• Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Earle
G. Wheeler, waited impa-
tiently.

Inside, Clint Hill of the
Secret Sendee detachment,
equipped with a walkie-

steps, where he was pre- i
vailed upon to don a top-
coat and a hat although Mc-
Namara and Nitze went
bareheaded and coatless,
and' Wheeler wore no great-
coat over his uniform.

While a U.S. Army band
thumped away at “Hail To
The Chief” the foursome
strode through the rain to
rh>e podium for the inspec-
tion of the all-service guard
of honor, the award cere-
mony and the brief speeches.

Occasionally snatches of
the speeches were heard as
the public address system
came on fitfully.

In his remarks Mr. John-
son said:

“I have heard this place \
here at the Pentagon ref- |
erred to as the puzzle pal- i

ace. Bob McNamara may be
the only man who ever
found the solution to the
puzzle, and he is taking it
with - him.

“But whatever it’s called,
it’s one of the most impor-
tant buildings on this earth.

I am sorry that this is so,
but until men and nations
are content to live with one
another in peace, it will be
so.”

After the ceremony the
party strode back toward
the Pentagon, where the
President’s limousine was
waiting. He turned, shook
hands warmly with McNam-
ara, and said:

“Thanks a lot, Bob.”

“Thank you, Mr. Presi-
dent,” McNamara replied.

The President drove off,
and McNamara and Wheeler
and Nitze walked toward the
Pentagon entrance, where
shouts and applause began
welling up from the jammed
doorway. They continued in-
side the . building as Mc-
Namara, grinning and wav-
ing, and with his glasses still
spotted with rain, walked
upstairs.

He walked into his suite
offices where a reception
table could be seen laden
with food. One of the first
.to walk into the private, re-,
ception was his successor,
Clark M. Clifford, who is to
be sworn in today as De-
fense Secretary.